When I waiting for a friend to meet me for lunch I read a Q&A with Louis CK done by Esquire‘s Scott Raab. The piece was rife with interesting and funny tidbits — I really enjoyed his thoughts on embracing fame while it lasts (“I’d sometimes walk up and down MacDougal Street to instigate” crowds.), but I was kind of taken aback when I got to the end of the piece and ran across what Louis CK told Raab after he checked a text message on his phone…

SR: What?

LCK: Trying to find out when the show’s going to premiere so I can go on The Tonight Show and all that stuff.

SR: That’s the one you have to be on?

LCK: That’s the highest-rated of all the late-night shows. Plus, Jay puts me on whenever I want. I really like Jay, and he’s always invited me to come on. They don’t have me on Letterman anymore.

SR: Why?

LCK: I don’t know. I haven’t been on Letterman in 15 years. I loved doing that show. Dave’s my favorite. Dave’s who I watch — I wrote for him. And I did the show five times or so, and I’ve been told that I’m not okay there anymore.

SR: There has to be a reason.

LCK: No one would tell me.

For what it’s worth, a source at the “Late Show” insisted to me that Dave has no beef with Louis CK and that his recent absence from the show has more to do with booking conflicts than any sort of personality conflicts.